Special Thanks: To My Betas, Greywizard, Jayesh, and Brer Abbott, Thanks guys, your support in this endeavor meant a lot!

Chapter 6
The Next Morning

Faith started the journey to wakefulness as the sounds of crashing surf registered in the back of her mind. As she got closer to being awake she could feel the sun shining on her back, giving her a pleasant warm feeling. The last thing she noticed was her face laying on a warm chest and the sound of a heartbeat in her ears.

She turned her face toward Xander's and found him gazing at her.

"Morning," she greeted him with a smile.

"Morning, beautiful,'" he smiled back as he pulled her up towards his face for a kiss.

Strangely enough, there was none of the awkwardness that new lovers sometimes felt, something that they were both grateful for.

"How 'bout we hit the shower, and then see what the island has to offer for a couple of tourists like us?" Xander suggested.

"You're on," she replied as she hopped out of bed, making sure she added to the normal sway of her hips as she headed to the bathroom.

The two took their time in the shower, making love once more before finally getting dressed and heading out to see what the island had to offer them.

~~~~~**********~~~~~

That day was pretty much a guide to how the next week would go, making love, trying the many different restaurants that the island had to offer, and shopping. And then a repeat for the next day, more or less continuing the same pattern until the day before the rest of the Sunnydale gang arrived.

Iguana Villa, Aruba
7:45 AM, May 26th 2006

Faith jumped out of bed, quickly threw on some clothes and ran around their villa, cleaning and re-arranging the pillows, trying to make everything perfect.

"Faith! Slow down, babe, there is no need for you to be running around like this. They don't even get here until tomorrow afternoon," Xander tried to make her understand.

"I know Xan, I really do know, but - there was so much bad blood between us. I mean, I threatened Joyce, held a knife to Willow's throat, swapped bodies with Buffy and I slept with her boyfriend." The words came pouring out of Faith's mouth as she focused on all the bad things she had done to the various members of the Scooby Gang, and with that, she looked down at the floor, unable to face him.

"Faith, we've all done things that we are ashamed of. You wouldn't believe some of the things I look back on with regret. Well, maybe you would, since you've actually lived in Sunnydale. But the important thing is to get over it and put it all behind you. Apologize to Buffy if you have to, then put it behind you. Things are different now, and I am sure that you will see they are anxious to put it behind them as well," Xander softly suggested.

Faith sighed, but sat down and stopped cleaning.

"Okay, Xan. I'll try. So, who is going to be here and what should I expect?"

"Well, Buffy will be here, also Giles and Joyce. Willow will show up, and she'll be bringing her girlfriend Tara with her, and Dawn," Xander replied.

"Girlfriend? When did Willow start playing for the other team? And who is Dawn?" Faith asked.

"Those are both long stories, and ones that I would very much enjoy sharing with you. However, I am starved, and I'm not sure I have the strength to tell you all the gory details," he grinned. "So, how about we discuss this all over breakfast down at Miguel's?"

Faith agreed, and she was soon treated to the stories of Willow's becoming a lesbian, and how Dawn was created by the monks; as the two of them devoured enough breakfast food to feed a small community.

They spent the rest of the day sunning and swimming on the beach,, spending the quality couple time together that both craved.

That night they watched a movie while dining on some wine and cheese, and then they retired early. They made love with both fervor and passion, and then slept, dreaming of a future they had never expected to have.

Iguana Villa, Aruba
11:30 AM, May 27th 2006

Faith kept pacing no matter what he said.

"Faith, would you stop already? You're making me dizzy," Xander begged, as he watched her circle the rec room of their villa for the twenty-fifth time.

"Look, Xan, I know that you said it would be okay, but in a little over an hour I have to face four people whose lives I nearly managed to seriously screw up at one point in my own seriously screwed up life. It is easy for you to say it, but I'm so worried about what they think of me." She stopped pacing for a moment. "Xan, these people are very important to you, and I don't want you hurt because of what I did a long time ago."

Finally as she began winding down, Xander reached up, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

"Just take a minute and relax, babe. They see things a lot differently now than they did at the time. Much of that is due to Mulder's influence as a psychologist. But the most important thing he did was make us all understand that at the time all of this was happening , none of us were ready to deal with what we were fighting on a nightly basis. Buffy has been seeing a bureau psychiatrist for years, just like I have." He kissed her on the forehead and pulled her down next to him on the couch.

"Faith, we were high school kids dealing on a nightly basis, with something that no one should ever have to deal with, at all. We were all pretty messed up and didn't realize it, but at least we had each other to talk to. You were not part of the group at that time, and so you had no one at all to lean on."

Xander kissed her again, then held her some more.

"Mulder figured that most Slayers died within a year because they were so messed up that they didn't know what to do, and they lost their focus. So they died. Buffy had us, and so she lasted, but *all* of us were messed up. But we are *all* doing much better now, and we all have the support of our friends, as well as the government," Xander comforted her, making sure she knew she was included.

Xander stood and pulled Faith up with him.

"Let's leave early and have lunch at the airport, okay?" He suggested.

Faith agreed, with a wan smile, and they headed off to the airport.

~~~~~**********~~~~~

By the time they made it to the proper gate, the passengers were just starting to exit. Xander watched carefully, and then saw a mass of red hair.

He waved and then Willow waved back at him, pointing to the rest.

The tall attractive redhead ran for him as soon as she was off the gangway, and Xander caught her and spun her around.

"Willow, it is so good to see you!" He said as he hugged her.

A tall, gorgeous brunette ran to Xander as well, and greeted him about the same way as Willow did, throwing herself into his arms and hugging him fiercely. Their reception by the rest of the Gang was a bit more subdued. When it was time for Joyce and Giles, they greeted Faith first, hugging her like a child that they had not seen for a while.

She felt a little weird over their attention, but secretly enjoyed it. Willow and her friend Tara greeted her friendly enough, so she found herself being pulled more into the get-together than she had originally expected. Finally, it was time to greet Buffy.

Faith was more nervous at this meeting than she had ever been about anything before, and never more anxious to work things out with her sister Slayer.

Buffy walked up to Faith and hugged her. Hard. And in a voice that no one but her could hear, whispered to her.

"We have lots to talk about Faith," Buffy said.

They gathered up the luggage and loaded it in the SUV that Xander had rented for them, loaded up the passengers in both vehicles and headed back to the villa.

Iguana Villa, Aruba
8:00 AM, June 1st 2006

Faith was up early this morning, and for once she beat Xander out of bed.

The past week had gone well. Well, at least she had thought so. They had taken the gang to all the popular spots and everyone had enjoyed themselves immensely. She had made peace with everyone - everyone but Buffy. And as she stood there in the kitchen, looking out over the beach she saw her chance.

Faith filled two of the big travel mugs with coffee, one for herself, and the other the way Buffy like it, then grabbed them up and headed toward the blonde sitting on the top of a dune a ways away.

Buffy heard her coming no matter how quiet Faith tried to be. She had picked today to clear the air with the dark slayer for once and for all.

"Hi, Faith," she greeted noncommittally

"Hey, B. Coffee?" She offered, handing the cup to Buffy.

The two Slayers sat in quiet contemplation for a time, sipping their coffee and watching the beach start to come to life.

"You know, if anyone would have told me back in high school that one day I would be sitting on a sand dune in Aruba drinking coffee with you, I would have told them that they were nuts," Faith said.

"And I would have agreed." Buffy paused. "Faith, I've thought about this for years, and even with the help of several years of counseling, it is hard for me to tell you how sorry I am for the way you got treated."

"Buff…" Faith started.

"No, Faith! Please let me finish. When you showed up, that last year of High School, I envied you so much! You were a free spirit, loved 'em and left 'em, apparently without a care in the world. God, how I wanted to be you! You answered to no one, and lived life the way you wanted to. Then I saw how the others treated you, like a second-hand Slayer, and they compared you to me. They wanted you to be more like me, and I had no idea what was right anymore." Buffy paused, looking at the water.

"Even after knowing what you had been through, we pushed you out; and as a result, pushed you towards the Mayor. Well, all except Xander, and he tried to the very end to bring you back, didn't he?" She asked, looking at Faith.

"He tried, and I tried to kill him, but when it came down to it, I couldn't do it. Then, after the whole body swap thing, I ran to LA. Took a contract that was out on Fang, and tried to get him to kill me. I never even thought of killing him at all, I just wanted him to take me out," Faith reminisced.

"Yeah, Angel told us what had happened, and how he got you to turn yourself in. Faith, I understand a lot more now, than I did then. You showed up alone, confused, and hurting from what had happened to your Watcher, and we ignored you. We made you feel inferior, and pretty much left you out on your own. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be kept out of a group of people who should have been your friends."

Buffy turned to Faith, tears in her eyes.

"Faith, I am so sorry what I did to you, and for everything that has happened. I just hope you can forgive me!" Buffy cried.

Faith dropped her cup and hugged Buffy for all that she was worth.

"I forgave you a long time ago, and only wished that you would be able to forgive me for everything that I did to you and your family," Faith said quietly.

The two young women, front line soldiers in a dark battle, started down the road to forgiveness and friendship.

Xander got up, showered, dressed, and then headed for the coffee. He found Giles standing in the kitchen looking out to the dunes. He poured himself a cup of the freshly made brew and joined the man he often thought of as his father.

"They've finally made peace with each other," the older man said.

Xander looked and saw the two women he loved, one like a sister, the other in truly romantic way, hugging and laughing as they returned to the villa.

"I'm glad they finally had the chance. Now maybe they can move on, maybe even become friends," Xander agreed.

The two Slayers returned to the Villa where they joined the others in a breakfast of sweet rolls and fruit.

"Well, guys, Faith and I planned our last day here to be pretty easy. Just barbeque some steaks on the beach, bake some potatoes; grab some salad, along with a cooler of beer. Maybe some volleyball, swimming, and just taking it easy," Xander explained.

"We thought that it would be better to keep it simple since we had to head home tomorrow, and that way everybody would be rested," Faith added.

The five agreed and everyone started getting ready for a day on the beach.

As they were loading up the coolers, Faith noticed that the salad had gone bad, and there was not very much beer.

"Xan, I'm going to run to the store, we need to get some potato salad and some more beer. You want anything?" She asked. "Anyone want to go with me?"

Tara nudged Willow and whispered to her.

"Can Tara and I come along?" Willow asked, slightly unsure.

"Sure, Red," replied a nervous Faith. Willow had always been the hardest to apologize to, and the one who resented her the most.

She grabbed the Mustang keys and the three women left.

They pulled into the parking lot of the small store, and Willow put her hand on Faith's arm as she started to get out.

"Faith," started Willow. " I know that things have not ever been good between us, but I know how much you mean to Xander, and how much he loves you."

"Yeah?" Faith replied, confused.

"I just wanted to let you know that I forgive you for trying to kill me, and for hurting us the way that you did. But -"

"But what, Red?" Faith asked softly.

Willow held out her hand and, with a whispered spell, filled her hand with a ball of eldritch energy, making everyone's hair stand up slightly and their scalps tingle.

"If you ever hurt Xander again, I *will* fry your ass!" Willow said slowly and softly, leaving Faith no option but to believe the witch.

"I love him way too much for that to ever happen, Red," Faith replied.

The two women who loved the same man, but differently, had finally made peace with each other.

Quickly, they got what they needed at the small store and went to the checkout counter. They paid for the stuff, packed the car and headed back to the villa.

By the time they had returned, the others were already on the beach, so they filled the two coolers with what they had bought, added more ice and carried them out to join the others.

~~~~~**********~~~~~

The day went by pleasantly. They all played Frisbee, swam, and just enjoyed life for once. Others who walked by noticed the two men, who were surrounded by six beautiful women, but had no idea how much darkness was behind them. Tomorrow, they would be returning to fight the darkness, but today, they were enjoying the light.

Xander had just put the steaks on the grill and he was watching Faith coming up from a swim. Faith in a string bikini was a wonderful sight. Add Buffy and Dawn and it was enough to turn any male to jelly. Faith walked up to him and kissed him gently, then whispered in his ear.

"Look all you want, Xan, but I am the only one you get to touch."

He returned her kiss and answered her. "Always, babe. Always."

As he was finishing the steaks, he noticed that twilight was upon them and it was starting to get dark. And as expected, both Faith and Buffy were preparing for it, each unaware of the other's actions. He watched as both women, in near identical moves; wound their hair in buns, holding them in place with chopsticks.

He turned back and noticed Giles watching as well.

"Is that a Slayer thing?" He asked.

"It might well be, Xander. I just don't think that the council has ever had two slayers to investigate it with before," Giles replied.

"What's that, Giles?" Buffy asked.

"I think they are making fun of us, B." Faith added.

"I just noticed that you both picked up on it getting dark at the same time, then both armed yourselves in a inconspicuous way, at the same time, and in exactly the same way," Xander explained.

"Well, in a bikini, there isn't really anyplace to hide anything," Buffy replied.

Xander started to say something, then stopped; figuring silence was a better way to remain healthy. The others snickered as they saw his face.

The group finished dinner as full dark fell on them. And, while they were still enjoying the warm evening around the fire, it was time to start packing up.

"Well, well ,well. Looks like we're just in time for dinner," said a mousy looking guy, who walked up leading a half dozen others.

"Sorry, but we're all done here," replied Joyce without even thinking.

Xander, who was packing a cooler, looked up and saw Faith and Buffy both moving to get between the group approaching and the rest of them, and realized that they were vampires. He opened the picnic basket beside him and slipped out a .44 Bulldog snub nose revolver, and then stood.

He took a position between Buffy and Faith, and faced the leader of the vamps.

"You have either got to be the unluckiest vampire on the island, or the stupidest," Xander said, shaking his head, looking at him.

"Why do you say that?" Asked the vamp, who had been very much a nerd in real life.

"Because you picked the only party on the beach that consisted of two Slayers and a vamp hunter," he said as he raised the revolver.

"A Slayer, here? Are you kidding?" Asked one of the women of the newcomers group.

"Nope, you were lucky enough to catch us on vacation," Buffy laughed, then attacked.

As Faith jumped to the left, Buffy attacked to the right. Xander stood in the center and watched the backs of both Slayers.

Buffy nailed the biggest male with a spinning back heel kick and dropped him face first in the sand. She whipped one of the chopsticks out of her hair and rammed the small piece of lacquered wood into the demon's heart, turning him into a cloud of dust.

Faith attacked the one facing her directly, hammering him with a direct hard left, following with a right to the gut. She drove her chopstick through the vamp's back into his heart and dusted him. She was also the recipient of a powerful backhand by one of the remaining vamps.

She rolled to a stop in front of one of the females who reached for her right away. There was a stunned look on the vamp's face as she 'poofed' and Faith smiled, holding up the chopstick.

Buffy dusted another, kicking its legs out from under it and jabbed the chopstick into its chest.

The two farthest in the back started to run away, but Xander merely tracked them with the Bulldog for a moment before firing, putting a couple of Scully's vamp killer bullets into each of them. As they burst into flame, Faith and Buffy both finished off the leader. Faith standing him straight up with a wicked uppercut, then both hammered wood into his heart at the same time, one from the front, one from the rear. As the dust from the vampire leader settled, the two young women gave each other high fives.

The rest of the group, having paused for a moment in their labors to watch, looked both women over for injuries and then continued to pack up, having seen similar displays too often in the past to be very impressed.

They returned to the Villa, and, after cleaning up the mess from their day at the beach, retired to their respective rooms.

~~~~~**********~~~~~

Xander sat up straight in bed as his cell phone started ringing.

"Hello?" He mumbled somewhat coherently.

\\ "Hey, Vacation's over. Want to open the door and let me in?" Mulder asked //

"Yeah, give me a sec," Xander said, starting to wake up now.

"What's going on, Xan?" Faith asked as she got up.

"Mulder's here. He said the vacation was over."

"Oh," she replied, slipping on a pair of boxers and a tee shirt.

The two left their room and were met in the living room by Buffy.

"Mulder?" She asked.

"Yep," Xander replied opening the door.

"Hey, guys! Sorry to cut the vacation short, but we've got some potentially serious trouble in New York. Seems like a clan of Ethros Demons has moved in and they seem to have started a turf war with the Vampires in the area. Intel is sketchy at best, but the brass has caved in to media and political pressure and wants the A-team on the job. If possible, they would like Rupert to go with you," Mulder quickly explained.

Buffy went to wake her stepfather/Watcher and let him know what was going on, while Xander and Faith packed.

When they were done, they returned to the living room. Buffy was already there, and they were waiting on Giles and Joyce.

Another Agent entered the room and Mulder introduced him.

"This is Agent Rueben Gonzalez of the Aruban Security Agency. He will take charge of having the Villa cleaned and getting Dawn, Willow and Tara delivered to the airport tomorrow morning."

Joyce and Gils were now ready, and they were explaining to Dawn, Willow and Tara what was going on. They said their goodbyes, and headed out to the cars waiting to take them to the airport.

Joining up with Scully, who had waited with the plane, they loaded up and lifted off into the sky.

As the morning sun first hit the Cessna Citation X jet, the two Slayers, a Vampire Hunter, and the X-Files team headed off to an unknown future together.

The End.